Girls Und Panzer Love on La Tercera Guerra Mundial
by animerelatedlover
Summary: Set after a year of the finals, a new school year means new challenges and faces. Said faces involve a teacher-in-training to teach, but as such; his objective is screened under that notion. The Ooarai's Sensha-do team will face something tragic and terrible. Rated T for now and WILL get to M on certain chapters. WARNING: DO NOT READ SAID CHAPTERS IF UNDER 18.
1. Chapter 1: Assignment: Nishizumi Miho

Chapter 1:

Assignment: Nishizumi Miho

"Uuuh… what the-! Uh!"

I slowly awoke from my sleep, but what greets me rather than my wife was light. Bright light points at me and it burned my eyes. I close my eyes yet again from it. Where am I? It seems that I'm on a chair, sitting. I try to get my hands on my eyes, but I can't seem to move it. No, something is hindering its movements. I try to move my other hand, but it was like that as well.

'_Don't tell me-!_'

My eyes are still closed, but I force it to open and face the light. The bright light blinds me for only a second until it started to clear itself. In front of me is a camera, a camera pointing at me. There are stage lights behind lighting at what seems to be the setting. Me. I try to get out. But there was something hindering me. Looking down it seems that I'm tied up on the chair.

'_No way!_'

I try to wiggle my way out. But the ropes on me are too tight. I try lifting my feet, but even that is tied up. Oh gawd, oh gawd, oh gawd. I started to panic. Cold sweat runs down my forehead. The camera in front of me sits still, eyeing my every movement. Is someone watching? Is this just a prank? Is this a lol? What the fuck?

"HEY!"

I shouted. But the only response that I got is the cold echo of my voice as it slowly disappears into the distance. What the hell is happening? What the hell is going on?

My breath gets ragged. My hands start shaking. The silence deafened my ears as I try to pick up at least any kind of sound that will resemble my salvation. But as luck would have it, none of which resembles of the sort. The silence grew. I turn my head left and right to see figure out where I am.

I'm in a building floor of some kind, probably a building where it's still under construction. I can see the gray cement of the foundations and the steel bars sticking out that the end. At the sides is a pile of wood covered in plastic, probably to keep most of the moist away. Other than that… there's nothing here.

I started to panic. The fear of being watched and the fear that you're alone, topping it off that you don't know what's happening. I screamed for help but no one came. I try to get out of this chair with brute force but it's not working in the slightest. What the fuck! Where the fuck am I?! What's happening?!

*SQZZZ!*

* * *

"Uwa!"

I awoke. The green ceiling greets me saying, 'good fucking morning asshole how are you doing today?'

"Nothing much"

'No that's not what I've been talking about'

"Shut it useless ceiling! I don't want to hear complaints from you!"

'Useless?! Hey, man, I'm the guy that keeps you dry whenever it rains'

"I can sleep in the rain"

'You don't say? Who was the guy that slept in the forest of Pawnee during the rain and Brrrred! His way to town'

"Uuu…"

'Who was the guy that I have to shelter from the rain last night'

"Uuu…"

'Who was the guy that complains it was cold and -!'

"STOP!"

Stopping the debate between me and my imaginary friend, I sit up on the bed.

"Goddammit…!" the notion hurts my head a little.

"I better run" saying to nothing in particular I stand up.

I headed to my dresser and pull out my sports clothes. I remove mine and replaces with the said clothes. I take out a pair of socks and running shoes. Wearing them, I confirmed the tightness of my strings and headed out.

Exiting my container home, yes it's a container don't flame me. I do some light stretches and begin my run towards the center highway.

"…_haa…haa…haa…haa_"

The 4 o'clock wind of sea breeze helps my running.

Welcome to Ooarai town. Or should I say… Ooarai carrier. Yes, it's a carrier, please let me explain. This super long and gigantic carrier, _WAY_ bigger than HMS Queen Elizabeth, fits a small portion of the town on it. Mind the portion part, because there is an Ooarai town back on ground in Japan. The functions of a carrier still exist like AA's, SAM's, torpedo's, radars, fighter planes and others are still here only it's below deck. There is a hatch that will open at the front for take off and landing purposes of said planes. The sides have hatches for said defences as well. Right now we are cruising along the territorial sea of Japan.

Ooarai town has only one school: Ooarai Girls High School. It's an all girls school if you would imagine. They have a very good education system if not for their student council president that offers an almost school free school year if certain conditions are met.

Such conditions are called _sensha-do_ or 'The way of the tank'. Har, Har, very funny man. No I'm not joking on this. Really, _sensha-do_ is an all girls activity and sport in which they fight using WWII tanks. It has been given very high credibility from all around the world. The safety of such girls, have been ensured of carbon coated shells and armor, increasing defenses against casualties but not negate it entirely. The shells may have been underpowered for the sake of sports but we still get the same weight and same velocity once it's fired. Thus safety is a priority

This may have been a lengthy explanation. But I am doing the best I can to explain as I run.

"Oops… Better turn back"

This carrier has a dimension of 26, 246, 719 ft. in length, a beam of 3, 651, 717 ft. of waterline and 6, 846, 970 ft. overall, it has a draught of 1, 027, 045 ft. and 1.40x10^14 sq. ft. for the 'supposed' deck. I already reached the deck limit and I'm going to go back to the front side. In other words, this is a long run.

* * *

"Hoo… that was a good run"

Gasping air for my lungs, I slide open the side door of my container home. The interior is a wall bed, a table opposite of it and dresser and a small bathroom at the very farthest of the container. There are no windows since I got lazy of making one and there's a small fridge at the opposite of me.

Closing the door behind me, I take an aluminum bottle from the fridge and gulp the contents down.

"Haa! Nothing beats honey tea!" the taste is satisfying.

*BRRING!**BRRING!**BRRING!*

Looking over at my desk, my phone is ringing. I check the caller and grunt a bit at the caller's name.

"Do I really need more briefing?" looking at the number displayed below the name. It seems that this is business.

*BEEP!*

"Hello"

"_Have you settled in?_"

"Yeah. Comfy as a cotton candy"

"_Good. You're only there to provide overwatch. If anything were to happen you are free to use your rank_"

"*Sigh*… I know already. Don't remind me the same thing over and over again. We've discussed this before right?"

"_I know, and do you remember the other objective you need to do?_"

"Provide over watch and protection on Nishizumi Miho. Yeah, yeah. But I will drop this mission if this is another cat and mouse game"

"…_The client is the infamous Nishizumi family. We can't drop it like you always do plus with the recent events that's taking place_"

"*Sigh*… So anyway, what's the situation in the outside world?"

"_Not good. An influential man in China had just been confirmed missing. And with the recent Spratly Island debate against the Philippines it's getting rather heated_"

"I see… This influential man you're talking about, is it another scheme from that 'group'?"

"_We don't have any confirmation as of yet_"

"I see… Well I better go now. I can't be late for my first day of school at teaching"

"_What are you going to teach?_"

"Philosophy"

"_Impressive. You've always been the type to say such adorable things_"

"Maybe the captain rubbed a little of his genius' to me"

"_Captain, huh? He was a good man… That captain of yours_"

"Ah, sorry. It might have brought some bad memories for you"

"_Not to worry. I've seen death from my work as a handler before_"

"I see… See you, Sophia"

"_See you_"

*BEEP!*

"Nishizumi… Miho" I mutter the name. This assignment is going to take awhile. I know the face and info on her by heart. So I wouldn't miss that face for the world.

"I better get ready" going to my dresser I ready myself for the first day of teaching at Ooarai Girls High School.


	2. Chapter 2: Lesson 1: Names

Chapter 2:

Names.

"Who is he?"

"A new teacher?"

"He looks handsome…"

"No way! I want to be in his class too!"

"He's quite manly"

'_*Sigh*…_'

As I walk towards the classroom that I'm assigned to. I'm met with stares from all sides. Girls, every last one of girls that I pass by seems to have eyes fixated on me. I don't like the feeling though, mind you. And it's almost every man's dream to be the limelight of the girls. But…

"It's rather annoying…" I whisper.

As I walk, the bell chimed and all the girls goes inside their respective classroom. I find my respective classroom as well. It's marked as 3-A. My chest beats fast as nervousness drives all around my nerves. Massaging my temple in front of the door, the nerves slowly calms down. And with a serious face, I open the door.

"…"

What's with the silent treatment? Everyone stared at me as I walk towards the teachers table. Looking at the faces of these girls, everyone seems to be anticipating something from me. Hm…

"Okay, class. Quiz time"

"EHH!" a surprised looked on their faces. They all started to rummage around their bags for their assigned book.

"That's a joke…" with that said. They heave a sigh of relief and put away their books.

"Okay, as of right now, I'll be taking over two slots of your Friday schedule; mainly the slots before lunch time. The subject that I am going to be teaching is philosophy. Also you don't need the books so burn that away" why the books anyway?

"We only meet once a week so I fail to see the logic of the said books. Anyway, I digress. You don't need to take notes because I'm not going to write anything on this green board behind me. But it's your option to take down the words I say"

"…" everyone nodded silently.

"And since we get three hours of lecture, I asked the headmaster to give you early lunches if I deem it necessary"

Everyone cheered happily at that revelation.

"Okay, if you have questions raise your hand, tell me your name, and ask" saying that a hand shot up in the air faster than gravity can hold it.

"Our first contender, fire away"

"Saori Takebe! Are you single?" she says the following line as she stood up and takes her seat the moment she finishes. The girl in question has long ginger hair.

"Yes. I currently am"

"Sensei!" another hand shot in the air. Gesturing her, she stands up.

"Yuzu Aizawa! Are you available?" a black pony tailed girl asked.

"Hm… If availability… I'm free anytime. But in terms of single life… better wait until a mathematician is able to list all of the Real Numbers in text"

"Akane Ichika! How old are you?" a short blond girl.

"20"

"Ooooh!" everyone started whispering to one another at the fact.

"Sensei, Sakai Amane! How long have you been teaching?" a long-straight gray haired girl.

"You girls are my first class and my first set of students, in fact you're the only class I have to handle because I'm a teacher in training"

"Sensei! Akiyama Yukari! Do you like tanks, sensei?" a curly dark brown hair with matching colored eyes.

"Hm… It's not that I hate tanks or any stretch of the imagination but… I can't tell the difference between a tank and a tank. They all look at the same to me"

"No they're not! Tanks are-!"

"Listen woman. Okay, give me a tank and its country"

"A German Panzer IV"

"Then I'll say that every last German tank out there is a Panzer IV. I really can't tell the difference so I'll apologize if I ever make a mistake. Next"

"Isuzu Hana, what will be our syllabus for the year?" a tall girl with long black hair.

"Whatever that pops in my head. And hey, who's the shrimp that's sleeping?"

"Mako-chan wake up. Mako-chan. Mako-chan" Saori wakes her up. Mako-chan, who I heard from Saori, stands up with sleepy eyes.

"Good morning, had a good nap?"

"Go~~d morning… Yes" she bows down. I nudge my head.

"Name and question"

"*Yawn*… Reizei… Mako… Name…? Uuu…" she collapses from all that drowsiness.

"Whoa" the girl next to her catches her.

"She asks for a name, sensei!" the girl shouted.

"You can call me Your Majesty" everyone laughed at this unexpected answer.

"Sensei!" another hand shot up in the air.

"Hm…" the girl that I'm assigned to, eh? I've got to admit, she's pretty cute in retrospect of the photo I got.

"Nishizumi Miho. What's your name, your majesty" she asked with a bit of a laughing tone. She has short light brown hair with that matches the color of her eyes.

"My name is Leofwine Esmond an ordinary outsider" I say it with a smile. These girls all have glitter in their eyes expecting this particular class to be fun. Well, it is going to be.

"Okay, girls first lesson and it's going to be short" all of them have their eyes fixated on concentrating.

"May I ask if asking for your names was quite weird on your part?" everyone shook their heads.

"Names… everyone has one. Every person living on this earth right now has a name…"

"And so do dolphins"

"Eh?" every said in chorus.

"Really, a dolphin use whistle sounds and will respond to their whistle name, even when produced a dolphin they don't know"

"Oooh…"

"Personal names. Personalize things. It signifies that the name is capable of feeling and empathy. "

"In the United Nations on 'The right of the child' declared that every human child on earth has the right for a name. Only three countries, however, have not followed this treaty: South Sudan, Somalia and the United States"

"Quite a shocker sensei, well that is true though. Some org's in the US says that they should not listen to any third party authority. Quite a superiority complex if I were to say"

"Do you know the word dunce?"

"Yes, it means stupid or an idiot" a pupil stands up and says the meaning.

"Well… that's harsh. But what's harsher is its origin; John Duns Scotus born in 1266. He was popular during his time, but later scholars say that his teachings are clever and wrong. Top it off with the notion that they pull the Duns from the name and made it a noun. Hence the meaning"

"Or do you want the longest name: Adolph Blaine Charles David Earl Frederick Gerald Hubert Irvin John Kenneth Lloyd Martin Nero Oliver Paul Quincy Randolph Sherman Thomas Uncas Victor William Xerxes Yancy Zeus Wolfe schlegelstein hausenberger dorffvoraltern waren gewissenhaft schaferswessen schafewaren wohlgepflege und sorgfaltigkeit beschutzen von angreifen durch ihrraubgierigfeinde welyche voraltern zwolftausend jahres vorandieerscheinen wander ersteer dem enschderrassumschiff gebrauchlicht als sein ursprung von kraftgestart sein lange fahrt hinzwischen sternartigraum auf der suchenach diestern welche gehabt bewohnbar planeten kreise drehen sich und wohin der neurasse von verstandigmen schlichkeit konnte fortplanzen und sicher freuen anlebens langlich freude und ruhe mit nicht ein furcht vor angreifen von anderer intelligent geschopfs von hinzwischensternartigraum, Senior"

"Well that was mouth full. So that's unreasonably long. So what can't a name be? Well, you can name your kid as 'Apple' or 'North', heck I can name my kid as 'Football'. But there are countries that you have to submit to the government for approval. Such as New Zealand, where they say that names should not cause offence to a reasonable person, not be unreasonably long and should not resemble ranks or titles"

"For example, a recent movement by their court, forbids a mother from naming their child 'sex fruit'. Yeah, sex fruit, mindblown. But they did pass some names that are in use right now. Such as 'Violence', 'Midnight Chardonnay' and 'Number 16 Bus Shelter'"

"In the US, however, you can name your child anything that doesn't include, obscenity, numerals or symbols. Which means, I can't name my child 'R2-D2' but I can name my child 'Adolf Hitler'"

"This is true; you can research on that if you want. The parents, self-proclaimed Nazi's, live in New Jersey, so they're New Jerseyans. But if they live in Utah they'd be Utahns, if they live in Russia they'll ne Russians. If they live in Japan they'll be Japanese. Demonyms"

"And endonym is a name given to a place to those who live there. And exonym is name by those who don't live there. But there are such names that can mean the opposite of the other meaning. Autoantonym"

"For example: 'Off'… 'I turned off the lights' or 'The alarm went off'. But such is the nature of the names depends on the behavior of use. And your name can also affect your behavior. The Name-Letter effect, is a phenomenon in which a people prefers words, events, characters, and any other stuff which have similar letter in their name. If you're able to measure that it can show a gauge to self-esteem"

"Alphabetical discrimination. If you write all 26 letters in the English alphabet diagonally downward to the right; then you will see that last names that begin near the end of the alphabet tend to be less esteemed against the last names that are near to the beginning of the alphabet. Perhaps because they've been put down at the bottom of the list"

"What's even more fascinating is that names with positive initials, tends to make human lives longer by 3 years. But negative initials make human lives shorter by the same length. Instead for women even if with negative initials"

"Such is the nature of name-calling, that can hurt people's feelings. It's at the bottom of Graham's Hierarchy of Disagreement"

"And at the end of the day… names are only words. As the saying goes, 'sticks and stones may break my bones but words are merely the smallest element of language containing a set of letters capable of meaning and isolation and as such could never produce the force of 4'000 Newton's of force per square centimeters required to break bones'"

"…" everyone has their mouth wide open from my little lesson. This is my lesson actually. All of them have their fixated on me with awe. I might have gone a little overboard there but oh well, I shrug my shoulders

"Again, my name is Leofwine Esmond. A teacher-in-training teaching you philosophy. Expect these kinds of lessons next week. Class dismissed"


	3. Chapter 3: Working: Cafeteria man

Chapter 3:

Working: Cafeteria man.

"_Have you confirmed Nishizumi Miho?_"

"Yeah… she's quite a cutie"

"_Am I sensing something suggestive here?_"

"Please… That's not going to happen"

"_You're no fun. Anyway, you know what to do_"

"Yeah. Just keep on shadowing her and protect her on any threat. Nothing too big of a deal"

"_Good. And if anything…_"

"…I'll use my rank. Would she even know what it means?"

"_She would. I'm willing to bet that the Nishizumi family are not that dumb of our presence_"

"…Hm…"

"_What?_"

"Nothing. How's the influential man?"

"_Still no leads. It's like he just up and about disappear_"

"Disappear... Are there other companies like us?"

"_No, there's none. We're the only company in the world_"

"No, what I mean is, Agencies or PM's"

"_There's none. And even if there were, the Underground will erase them_"

"Good point. Any new conflicts?"

"_Same old fight. But I think the US is going to back up the Philippines_"

"How?"

"_Sending battle cruisers and military personnel_"

"Wouldn't they be under the debt of the US if the Phil's accepted that?"

"_Yeah, but one small country facing the empire of China, it would take 300 of people like you to pull that off"_

"Even then, the debate has been too long_"_

"_Yeah..._"

"See ya"

"_See ya_"

*BEEP!*

* * *

Monday. Three days after I had my first lecture about Names. I'm heading into the school after my run today. Walking along the long stretched center highway, I feel the breeze onto my hair. The feeling of nostalgia feels my head. Entering the empty school, I make my way to the cafeteria.

After my lesson last Friday, I asked the cafeteria handler if they want extra hands. She grunted a little since I was a kid, but gave all full smiles after she ate my cooking. I never learned how to cook until my Captain gave made an order of cooking an extravagant meal during our time in Iran. The commander at the time, agreed since there in cahoots in that whole thing.

"_Cooking is something more than just rations to fill your stomach. It is your small time R&R. Also, you'll miss ½ of your life if you don't know how to cook such things_"

So the commander named the operation: Eat! Eat! Eat! Eat! And under the eyes of our great almighty Captain, we learned how to cook 5-star dishes in under a single day.

Entering the empty cafeteria I notice it's quite big, with tables and chairs lined up in three rows. At the very far right side is the counter lane and at very far opposite of me is a stage with a grand piano.

"A piano, eh?" I never touched one in years. Nostalgia feels me as I make my way towards it. Checking all the keys, I confirmed that it's in good shape.

"Why don't you play something?"

"Hm?"

A woman wearing white overalls with a net hair on her hair appeared as I turn to the source. She seems to be interested in my preliminary checking.

"I haven't touched one in years"

"C'mon it's not going to be that bad, right?"

"Sorry… I just…" pressing a mid-key, the sound echoed from the string and into the air of the empty cafeteria.

"Y'know, that piano has been quite lonely. No one has been quite been able to play it"

"I see…"

"C'mon then. You're on cleaning for now"

"Roger that"

Getting off on the stage, I head to the other side of the counter and put on an apron and a headband. I take a holster specifically made for cleaning materials. I also take a mop and a bucket of water and go back on the main cafeteria and started mopping my way.

So clearly you may ask, what the hell am I doing? Simple, I'm cleaning. There's no reason to make my move on Miho for now since there's no new development on the outside world. So instead of waiting my ass off in my container home, I better move my body by doing random jobs. That also includes the teaching thing every Friday.

If anything, though, I'm ready anytime. I just hope that nothing will happen until my term here.

* * *

"EH! I-It's Sensei!"

"Hm? Oh, it's Saori" I wave at the ginger haired girl. It seems she's with Miho and Hana with their trays by the counter.

I'm at the kitchen side, on the other side of the counter. As of right now, I've been cooking a light spicy chicken al a king after I ended my cleaning at 11 o'clock. And I've been doing it over and over.

"Hey beautiful!" I called out the master of the cafeteria.

"What is it?"

"I need to take a break here. My arms are getting numb"

"We do have enough of your cooking here to distribute so I'll let you off"

Hearing that, I washed my hands and undid the apron on my waist. I headed to the main cafeteria hall and looked all over for my students. By the window side, I see a short light-brown hair eating some bread of sorts.

"Hey girls" walking up to them I greeted.

"Ah, Sensei" Miho answered cheerfully.

"Good afternoon, Sensei" Isuzu moves her head resembling a bow.

"Please, I'm a 20 year old young boy. I don't look that old" last time I checked I'm still baby faced.

"Just call me Leo if we're outside of the classroom"

"So then, Leo, good afternoon"

"Good afternoon too, Hana" I slightly bow my head. Miho gestured me to sit to the seat next to her, I do so.

"So anyway Sens-Leo, are you really single?" Saori says as she puts a tonkatsu in her mouth.

"I'll have you know that I'm quite single"

"Ah, so you're not involved in any love triangles or any sort?"

"Love triangles? Well, if love is in question, there is one…" I think of Sophia and in all her glory.

"Never mind that. It's impossible. In fact, it's preposterous" me ending up with Sophia? Perish the thought people, perish it.

"Sense-Ah… Leo about our first lesson the other day…" Hana diverge the subject.

"About the Names part? What don't you understand?"

"Ah, no. I understand it completely. I just want to ask if we're going to receive more of those spiels"

"I was planning to. But if not, it's either free time or free time"

"Why the spiels anyway?" Miho asked.

"Well going through the official syllabus. It doesn't feel philosophical at all. Philosophy, my girls, is a study in which such studies baffle the mind. If I were to tell you that you actually can't touch anything and ask why; that's philosophy. A question that challenges heads over heads. That makes you think ten times that you would actually think"

"Just like 'Why are we here?' question"

"Correct, Hana"

"Leo, is this your dish?" Saori asked. Diverging the subject yet again.

"Yeah" she was referring to my chicken al a king.

"Uuu… I think my confidence as a woman just got shattered"

"Do you even have confidence?" Hana asked teasingly.

"Let me have a taste" Miho, pinching a part of the meat on my dish from Saori's plate with her chopsticks, takes it and eat it.

"Amazing…" she said with her chopsticks in her mouth.

"What? Is it that bad?"

"No, it's actually quite delicious" Hana apparently had a taste herself.

"Hm? Really it was my first time cooking after a long while"

"Why are you cooking at the cafeteria anyway?"

"Well, Miho, as a boy with over exceeding knowledge, I just want to show off"

"…I…see…" she responds awkwardly.

"That was a joke. I just want the experience"

"HEY! GET BACK HERE!" Goddammit woman! Don't scream when I'm so far away!

"Better get going"

"See you next time Leo" Saori says behind me. Without turning my front to them, I wave at her. I hurry back to the kitchen without minding the looks of the other girls.


	4. Chapter 4: Sleepy Girl::Tank Girl

Chapter 4:

Sleepy Girl::Tank Girl

"_If you want to read a fucking book, Read outside, that's an order!_"

Such words we're left to me by my Captain. I got the inquisition of being a bookworm when I was young and it carried me up until joining the company. Although that was the very first and last time my Captain ever ordered me that. I have no obligation follow it whatsoever now. But here I am searching for a place to read with a book in hand. Aren't I adorable?

"Hey pops, is there any place to read peacefully?" approaching a business man that popped out from the corner, I asked.

"Hm? There's a spot a few blocks away after you turn the third left on that direction. It's called lily Garden" lily garden? Might as well.

"But a lily garden…"

As I walk towards the directions the business man told me, I form an in image in my head. Since there's a garden I'm willing to bet there's also a shade of tree somewhere. Imagine, reading a book surrounded by lilies… brings a smirk to my face.

Turning the aforementioned corner, I can already see the garden into view. Guided by those silly thoughts, I decided to run my way towards there.

"…And they say this is a lily garden…"

I try walking around 3 blocks more to make sure, and found out that this really is the spot. There's a spot where the ground is softened enough for seeds to grow. But sadly, there's no lilies to speak of.

"…Oh well… nothing I can do but…"

Under the shade of a tree, is a woman with her face covered under an open book and cat on her stomach. She's wearing the Ooarai's school uniform as she sleeps. I watch the cat on her stomach rise and fall under her quiet peaceful breathing.

"Zzzz…Zzzz…" or not. She's snoring under there.

The next question that pops in my head is:

'_Why sleep here?_'

But as soon as the thought process finishes, the wind blew calmly over the park. The small leaves fly among the wind's direction. I see… it's definitely nice and cool here.

"…*Snzz*… Hnn…"

"Weird girl…"

She's already way late for school and it's useless to wake her up unless it's almost lunch where she can catch up. Deciding on that, I sit under a tree next to hers and open my book to start reading.

As I turn a page, I felt something watching me. Looking over, it seems that the cat woke up and is staring at my movements with drowsy eyes. It seems my movements woke it up.

"…Sorry" I whisper apologetically.

"…Mre~~eow…" meowing to me she jumps off of the girl's stomach and walks away in dignity.

"Ah…"

"Hm?" it seems that the girl with a book on her face flinched to life.

Raising her upper body into a sitting opposition, the book fell off. She has long black hair with a white hairband. She also has dark hazel sleepy eyes. Reizei Mako.

"Uuu…where am I?"

"You're in the supposed lily park" I answer.

"Ah, its sensei…" she said in a sleepy tone while stretching.

"Had a good nap?"

"Mm…" she nods.

The sea wind blew nicely over this small park. Although the sign board upon entering says 'Lily Garden' and thus no lilies to be found; you can rather smell a scent of them that is carried by the wind. It's rather refreshing to be here as against the other places I've been through.

"…You're not going to report me?" she asks in monotone.

"Nope. And in any case, you won't be able to jump over the gate" I say my conclusion.

"But if you want… I can escort you to school during lunch"

"Mm…" she nods again.

"…Okay"

And we stayed in silence the whole time. The act of reading a book under the shade of a tree, with the breeze of the sea, and also with in under almost peaceful times, it's rather terrifyingly great to have accepted this assignment. Time pass as I read my book.

"Sensei…"

"Hm?"

"…Fernando Pessoa" she points at the book that I'm reading.

"The Book of Disquiet. Why? Want to read it as well?"

"…Not really" she turns her head away.

"…Hmm… Tell ya what… I'm going to lend it to you for up until next week"

"Really?"

"Sure. I've finished reading this book a long time ago, I know what happens next"

"…Okay"

"C'mon, let's go. It's almost lunch" standing up, I lend out my hand and pull her up. We walk towards the school.

"Ah! You're late again!"

"Gomoyo…"

Upon entering the school, a girl with medium short black hair that looks like a coconut husk, greeted us. Well, not me but my little friend here.

"This is the 5th time… Even if we're a team, as a Public Morals Committee member I won't tolerate it. Don't blame me if you won't graduate"

"Uuh…" Oooh, that hits the mark.

"Now, now. She was doing something for me and it took us up until lunch to do so"

"And you are?"

"A teacher-in-training. Here, ID" taking my ID out of my pocket I stick it up to her line of sight.

"Ah, Sorry, sorry" she bows down repeatedly.

"Not to worry. And I can assure you that her helping me will be beneficial to the students" I say it like a cool teacher.

"Well then… Mako, if you're teacher asked. Show this" I pull out from my pocket a pen and some paper. I write something on it.

"…Here, it's an excuse letter" I fold it up, slide it inside the book and gave it to her.

"…Mm… Thanks…" the side of her lips slightly moves up resembling a tiny smile.

"Sure…sure… And anyway… call me Leo when outside of class"

"…Mm… Leo…Thanks"

"Good. Better get going or the shrimp here will get even more mad" that tiny smile grew ever so wider.

"Now… what to do?"

Walking along the center highway, I wonder on what I should do. I take out my phone look at the time. 1:21… I can go and report to Sophia right now. But the woman is not an attention seeking whore to call every day. So what the hell am I going to do in my free time?

"Huh? A hangar?"

As I walk pass the teachers parking lot, I see in the background a field and a hangar. Hm… I better take a look. Finding my way, I turn to the right from the nearest corner and found that I can get through via the gate. Following the said conclusion, I walk along the 20 sq. m. area and head towards the hangar.

"Hmm… Pretty well maintained"

Although the gates look old, they're not that rusted. Opening the gate meant for man, I enter.

"Whooo…" I whistle in astonishment.

Eight tanks. All of them lined up neatly. I can see that they're all well maintained. The tracks look good and the turret looks spectacular not like some toilet. And it seems like all of them have just been cleaned given by some water that's on the ground.

It's true that I can't classify tank per tank. Although I can classify battleships, cruisers, missiles, aircrafts, guns and many more, tanks are what failed me. They just don't seem to click. Even during training I've been through, I'm a lost cause for tanks and its specs.

"I'm willing to bet that all of them are Panzer IV's…"

"No they're not!"

"Who's there?!"

I do a Jet Lee pose and ready myself for any possible attack. Sharpening my ears, I hear an object bashing against metal. The tank in front of me opens its hatch out came a girl wearing an orange worker's suit.

"This one is a Panzer IV!"

"Sorry. I told you that I'm not good at this, Yukari"

"C'mon… it's at least obvious that they're not the same"

"True that… but they just don't register in my head. Why don't you show me the ropes, Sensei…"

"Haa… I'll do that. This is a German Panzer IV Ausf. H!" she lightly punches the tank making a little echo.

"On the fair right is a Jagdpanzer 38 Hetzer, next is an StuG. III Ausf. F" she points the tank on her right.

"The far left is an Type 89 I-Go, next is an M3 Lee, a Char B-1bis, Type-3 Chi-Nu and a Tiger (P)" she said those so fast that it didn't register in my head.

"Sorry, sorry. I just…" rubbing my temples I try to remember them all. It came up blank.

"Sorry, I don't remember them all"

"Sensei! They all look different!"

"I know but…" I gave one last look at the 8 tanks before me.

"They're all black and white to me"

"Okay, I decided! I'll drill the names of these tanks into your head! So get ready Sensei!"

"Haa?"


	5. Chapter 5: Sickness: Tank-Agnosia?

Chapter 5:

Sickness: Tank-Agnosia?

"So do you get it now?"

"Ah… this is a Panzer IV and this is a… 89…?"

"Good"

"And this is the… Type 3 and that's the Tiger (P)"

"You got it backwards! We've been through this thing 200 times, Sensei!"

"Sorry, sorry… They're just black and white to me. I really can't tell the difference. Although I can see that there are… probably the naming convention is shit or it's in my head" it's really in my head.

She's been giving me a lecture for 4 hours already. And right now it's 4 o'clock. Her passion for tanks is unbelievably huge as she discusses to me the difference between a tank and a water tank. I'm getting a headache.

"Um… what are you guys doing?"

"Hm? Oh it's Saori again" looking behind I'm met with a ginger-haired girl.

"What's with the 'again'? And what are you doing here…? N-No way! A-are you two going out!"

"Haa?" where in heavens name did she pull that out?

"There's no way I'd fall for a guy who doesn't tell the difference between a tank and a tank" Yukari interjects.

"Well, excuse me, it's my heads fault not mine" I blame my brain.

"So anyway, what are you doing here, Leo?"

"Leo?" Yukari cocks her head.

"It's sensei's nickname. He said we can call him that outside of class"

"Leo, eh…? Leo-sensei is good for me" Yukari agrees to herself.

"Whatever you want, anyway I was just passing by when I saw a hangar here and checked it out"

"I see… I thought you followed the scent of Yukari's body and do nasty things to her" is she thumbing me as a rapist?

"Saori-chan, what's the holdup-Ah, Leo" from behind I can see someone trying to get inside.

"Hey there, Miho" I greet the girl behind Saori.

"I thought I heard someone familiar. Good afternoon, Leo"

"Good afternoon too, Hana"

"Yukari-chan, why did you skip class?" Hana asked.

"Because Leo-sensei here is a dumb individual who can't tell the difference between a Type 38 and a Tiger (P)"

"Hence she tries her hardest to drill it in my brain. But I guess my brain doesn't like it one bit" I added.

"Ah, I see…" Miho awkwardly understands.

"Is it some sort of illness?"

"Well, Hana, there is a condition in the brain where you can't remember the faces of your relatives called Prosopagnosia. Only in this case, the faces of tanks is what I can't remember"

"So you're sick?" Saori concluded.

"No. Just a small impalement since birth, maybe, nothing too big of a deal that hinders my life"

"So it's… tank-agnosia?" Miho wonders.

"Better translate the tank part in Greek" since prosopagnosia is two Greek words combined together.

"Anyway, you're here to practice _sensha-do_?" if Miho and the group are here then that could be the only reason. Or you can consider lazing around.

"Yes. Since we won the nationals last year, we want to better improve since we'll be participating again" Hana replied.

"I see… Well, as champions, I'm willing to bet that the other schools have gone and do their research on you"

"That's what we thought also" Miho added.

"…Excuse me" another girl popped out of nowhere.

"Ah, it's Mako-chan!" Saori announced.

"Did the teach let you off the hook?" I ask the white hair banded girl

"Mhm… Thanks"

"Don't mind"

"Eh? Eh? No way! He's a two-timer!" Saori exclaimed in shock.

"No, he just helped me out a little" Mako says in our defense.

"And please stop categorizing me as some sort of gigolo, Saori" I added.

"Hmm… I didn't notice it before, but Leo uses our first names without honorifics" Miho noticed.

"Well… I'm a foreigner and I don't know what kind honorifics to use. Since then I've given up on using it. Also it's common for some of us foreigners to use the given name rather than the surname. I, for one, am an example of the few" I explain.

"Where are you from?"

"Born in Spain; lived in California for a while. Then when I graduated college I decided to be a teacher and a 'friend' said she has connections to Ooarai Girls High School. So I applied" that's a lie. But it is mostly a representation of what really happened.

"Can you sample us a bit of Spanish?" Yukari said.

"Mi nombre es Leofwine Esmond. Edad veinte. Una enseñanza del profesor en formación que la filosofía" I say the following line. They look with awe in their eyes.

"Oooh… what does it mean?" Saori asked.

"He said: 'I am Leofwine Esmond. Age twenty. Teacher-in-training teaching philosophy'" Hana answers.

"A few errors aside, I'll give you a prize"

"Anyway, the others are coming here so why don't we open the hangar doors so they can move out easily. Leo do you want to watch our training?" Miho said.

"Hm…" I consider my schedule. There's nothing I can do important anyway other than to watch for Miho. But if its _sensha_-_do_, she's going to be alright. I hope.

"Sure… I'll kill some time by watching"

Helping the girls opening the gates for the hangar, a group of girls came up to the hanger. Four of which looks like some military maniacs, two of them looks like twins, and the rest I don't know. Three of them are one of my pupils: Aizawa, Ichika, & Amane.

"Sensei, sensei! What are we going to discuss on Friday?" Amane asks.

"Hm? I don't know. I'll just say whatever pops in my head"

"Are we ever going to use our books?" Aizawa asks.

"No, I told you to burn them. Or donate them to a library. We won't even use it anyway"

"Sensei, are you our instructor for today?"

"Instructor?"

"Ah, no, he's just a guest here. Our instructor will be coming shortly"

Just as Miho says the words, I hear the motor sound of a helicopter up high. Looking up, I see an EC135 hovering 500 ft. above us. Squinting, I see that the side door slides open. A woman of sorts jumps out in a frog position. After a few seconds she released her parachute and gently glides down to earth.

She removes the parachute bag and came up to us.

"Hello everyone!" the woman in question has short black hair and matched colored eyes. She wears a military uniform.

"Ami-chan!" Miho came up to her and gives her greeting.

"How are you since then?"

"We've been okay"

"I see… Oh, you have a guest here" noticing me, I wave a hand.

"Hello, I'm a teacher-in-training"

"A teacher? You seem young to be one"

"Please mind the training part. I'm still a greenhorn"

"I see… but can I commend that you look quite a man"

"You can. And what? Are you trying to hit on me?"

"Ooh! He's a player!" Saori exclaimed. It seems had just formed.

"Saori… don't' put me into the same boat as a pervert who hits girls just for fun"

"Huh? I was just to thumb you as one" Ami said.

"Har, har very funny" I give up.

"Since everyone is all here, why don't we start?" Miho announced. Then all of the girls lined themselves up in 5 columns. The columns aren't matched by evenly. They're set in a 5-4-4-3-4 set.

"Let me guess… They're lined up according to which tank they're in" I say my conclusion to Ami.

"Observant. Yes, it's much easier to instruct if they're all lined up like that. Now then…" she turns to them.

"I'm you instructor for today, Ami Chono. Some of you may know me, and some of you don't. This is my second time being invited here as Ooaria's instructor so let's all get along" they all clapped.

"Now, even if Ooarai has become strong since you won against Kuromorimine, that does not mean that you're the best! There are others out there that are way more stronger and powerful so don't get your hopes up"

"Oooh… pretty nice…" I whisper my comment.

"I think the old timers know the drill. But we'll have a mock battle first, here's a copy of your map. Get into position located on your map. I believe you know which team letter you are, right?"

"Right!"

"Good. So then… _Panzer vor!_"

And they move out. This is going to be interesting…


	6. Chapter 6: Practice: Skirmish and Ramen

Chapter 6:

Practice: Skirmish and Ramen

"So I guess that, they're using 5 tanks is that…"

"…The third years graduated" Ami answers. Well with the lack of teams accommodating all 8 tanks, it's no surprise.

"Anyway… this is a pretty nice view"

The wind gently breezes on my face as I stand here at the watch tower. Ami and I are standing here with binoculars in hand. What am I spying on you may ask? Easy. Right beside the field is forest particularly for training. As of right now, there are tanks moving to their respective positions. Ami and I have been checking our map to confirm their locations.

"Looks like they're in position" Ami said.

"Yeah, they are. So what kind of training do they do? Skirmish?"

"That's right. Do you want to do the honors? You are a guest after all"

"Sure. Don't mind if I do" taking the radio off her hands, I hold on the push-to-talk button.

"_Rules are simple… I'll treat the last tank standing to some awesome ramen that I just ate this breakfast…_Is that any good?" I ask Ami.

"Hahaha! Well, as long they get the message… But you shouldn't put the carrot before the horse"

"True that. But it can be useful sometimes… is there anything else I have to say?"

"Tell them to bow first"

"_Bow_"

"_Let's have a good match!_" wow, that was loud. And if you haven't guessed they have radios as well.

"_Then…Panzer…thor?_"

"Its _vor…_" Ami corrected me.

"Ah… sorry, sorry… _Panzer vor!_" Then all of them started to move out.

A-team consists of Miho's group, B-team consists of Amane's group, C-team consists of the war time maniacs. There are two others as well, making a total of five. I don't know them and they don't have much features to thumb them on so please forgive me.

Putting on the binoculars I watch Miho's tank move forward. Hm?

"Why is half of her body out?"

"So she can see clearly"

"Won't she get hit?"

"People rarely get hit"

"But wouldn't collateral damage hurt just as same"

"True… but it's just a measly thing to worry about"

Returning my sights on Miho's tank…um… Panzer IV? I don't know okay! Don't flame me if I'm wrong! It seems they're following the path along the river's edge. Miho looks left and right for anything that resembles hostile.

"You know, it's kinda boring watching from the sidelines"

"I get that too… but you're a guest and I'm an instructor let's leave it up to the kids"

"Don't talk like an old woman. You still got a lot of prettiness left"

"Thanks. But flattery won't get you anywhere. Oh! Look E-team has a good view of A"

Returning to my binoculars, I see that another tank is hiding on A's right side by the forest. Its turret is trying to follow A's movements.

"Oh, there's another by the rear…"

Looking at it now, another tank is chasing after Miho's. If I'm right, its 500 meters away. It's a good enough distance to not be seen given the terrain. Scanning my binoculars for the other teams, I find one hiding in the terrain on the other side of the river. Its turret facing Miho's as it drive's straight. Another tank is closing on Miho's 12 o' clock.

"A strategic flanking…" a four side attack.

"The only biggest threat here is Miho's imagination and tactics"

"I see… They're going to take out the big gun first then finish each other off. Do they want the ramen that badly?"

"I doubt it… But they are getting serious on taking the biggest threat. Now, how is Nishizumi Miho going to get out of this one?" with a little smile on her face, she returns to her binoculars.

Doing the same, I watch as the scene unfolds. Miho's tank has stopped for about 200 meters from the tank in front of it.

*BANG!*

The front tank fires its shell. The shell zooms in on Miho's tank but it dropped to fast and it hit the ground about 10 meters in front of its target.

*BANG!*

Miho's tank fires a shot and it races through its target faster than the normal eye could see. It hits its target with a large *BAM!* sound and smoke begins to rise. As the smoke clears I can see that the tank had raised the white flag.

*BANG!**BANG!**BANG!*

Then the three tanks, which were on Miho's surroundings, fired their weapons simultaneously. Miho's tank moves to its 2 o' clock. The shells race through, trying to catch Miho's tank. But the moment Miho's tank entered the clear, the three shells collided, creating 3 ricochets. One of them bounces back towards the side of tank at the other side of the river, the other two just flies off somewhere.

With this window of opportunity, the A team pointed their turret at the tank hiding in the forest and fires.

*BANG!*

Stabbing through tree after tree, it races through the forest until it hits its target. Smoke came out from the point of hit. Looking closely it seems that the white flag is raised. 2 down.

"Miho's team is a lot better than I expected"

"Well… she does come from a family who practices _sensha-do_"

"I see…"

As I look back, Miho' team had ran away inside the forest concealing themselves from the other groups. Good tactic. The rear tank follows them into the forest.

"I see… Miho is going to attempt to take the followed the moment it got into a clearing"

"But the other team will think of that as well"

"Then…"

"…don't think like them"

Following the tanks that are running parallel into the forest, we see a clearing at their 12 by 600 meters. The tanks point their turrets on at each other. The speed achieving what seems to be maximum velocity. Then the end is in sight…

*BANG!*

The tank fired its shell… at nothing in particular.

*BANG!*

Another fire was shot. This time the tank that followed was hit at the side. The smoke cleared and the white flag is raised.

"Whooo… That's pretty amazing" I comment.

Here's how it goes: After running parallel to each other at max speed in the forest. Miho's tank suddenly stopped, making the other tank enter the clearing thus completely exposed. And you get the rest.

"I better ready my money"

"Can I come along?"

"Yeah, sure"

Putting back the binoculars, I can see the last tank heading its way towards a bridge. The bridge looks sturdy enough and its steel plated. The tank slowly, with a little haste, but surely crosses the bridge. Just as the tank is about to reach the other side…

*BANG!*

A shot was fired. I followed the source of the noise and see that it came from the nearest forest. The shell hits the vertical support beam of the bridge, making the wires snap. And with a little more snaps, the bridge collapsed.

"I think that's game…_D-team, are you out?_"

"_Yes… Uuuh… My head…_"

"_Okay… Victory and the team that I'll have to treat for ramen are the… A-team!_" saying that announcement, I give the radio back to Ami.

"What do you think?"

"Hm… They're pretty good. It's no wonder Miho is the overall commander"

"She's pretty impressive, ain't she?"

"Yeah"

"The blood of a Nishizumi does flow through her veins"

"It's wrong to think that way…"

"…Hm?"

"Because you're only considering her family background. Give the individual some credit"

"I see… my bad. She's a really impressive person"

"I know…" because I've done my research.

As the pickup trucks carry the tanks back to their hangar. The other's, except for Miho's group, walked back. The sun was about to set when everyone is all and accounted for. Ami and I stand in front of the team.

"Good work everyone! It seems you got the basic skills down!" Ami said.

"And an excellent work to A-team as well" Ami looks at them like a mother seeing their child finally graduating from school.

"I believe this guy has something to say"

"Do I?" I answer.

"Do you think you can be able to escape with 21 people here?"

"I can… But I digress, A promise is a promise" saying that, I walk up beside Ami.

"Since the A-team won, as promised I'll be treating you guys some ramen…"

"Yay!" they all shouted.

"But I'm feeling generous today… So why don't I treat you _all _to some ramen"

"EH!?" expected.

"Girls, girls… please stop… Uh, my ears…" their high pitched voices almost popped my eardrums.

"Leo, can you treat all 21 of us!?" Saori asked.

"Would I say such ridiculous things if I didn't"

"Sensei! What kind of ramen are we talking about?" Amane asked.

"Cheap but 5-star worth"

"Sensei! How much is cheap?" Ichika followed.

"Pocket money cheap"

"Sensei-!"

"Okay, please stop. It's going to be a train wreck if all of you ask questions one after the other" I raise my hands to signal them.

"But can you really treat all of us… I can back out, y'know?"

"Don't worry about it Ami, I'm rich enough. So then…" I turn to all of them

"…_Panzer vor _to the ramen shop!"


	7. Chapter 7: Spicy Ramen: Reki-jos

Chapter 7:

Spicey Ramen: Reki-jo sHippo Team

"Uwoooooooow…"

All the girls awed at the sight before them. They can't erase the glitter in their eyes. We are in between two buildings, an alley if you may. A ramen stall on one side and 7 sets of tables and chairs at the space in front of it. On those tables are pork ramen still steamy and with great color and scent. Our only source of light is the spotlight provided by the master of this magnificent ramen shop.

"So… dig in, I guess…" the moment I said that they scrambled to their chosen seats.

"*Sniff**Sniff…Uhaa! This smells good!*"

"*Slurp!**Slurp!*…Haa! This is amazing!"

"This is five star recipe!"

"This was the dish that was brought back during the Second-Sino Japanese War!"

"That's right!"

"Mmmmmm….! This is so good! *Slurp!**Slurp!"

"Saori you're making a lot of mess"

"You're popularity will go down…"

"Even though she's not that popular"

"They completely ignored the guy paying all this shit, huh?" walking to the shop, I sit myself at counter.

"Yo, master. The usual"

"All righty here's some sake" he gave me a glass and a bottle.

"Thanks" taking the glass I pour some sake in it.

"So… you've gotten really popular huh?"

"Whatever are you talking about they're my students"

"Really? I'm willing to bet that short brown haired girl is your type"

"You don't even know half of it" she's just an assignment. Nothing more.

"Really? I may be an old man but I haven't gone senile"

"I see…"

"So… which one is it?"

"Dunno"

"*Sigh*… C'mon dude I won't tell"

"Judging you, I'm willing to bet 10,000 yen just to say that you're going to announce it at some local radio station"

"No way, man. I'm serious on this, who is it?" he looks seriously in my eyes.

"Fine, fine I'll tell you. It's the chick in the military uniform" looking over my shoulder it seems Ami is having fun talking with Miho and the others.

"Hm? Whooo… she's looks like a tough nut to crack"

"There's a technique"

"What?"

"Spend the night with her"

"Have you gone completely insane? She looks like the type to get on top not the other way around"

"That's what I've been saying. If you make her be the dominant type for a while then she's going to come to you for more. After a while, show your manliness and completely reverse your positions"

"That's going to take a while"

"I know, but I'm young I still got the rest of my life to spend"

"Ha! Now look who's talking like an old man here"

"You're acting like child if I'm going to say at least that much"

"Heh… anyway here's your chicken and beef ramen with some spicy shit"

"Yeah thanks" taking the bowl I left the counter and headed to Miho's table.

"Anywhere I can sit?"

"Ah, right here" Ami taps the chair beside her.

"Thanks" taking the cue I set my bowl onto the table.

"Oops I forgot my chopsticks. I'll be right back" running back to the counter, I take the chopsticks put it on my pocket. Take the glass, gulp down the contents and walk back with a bottle of sake and a glass on hand.

"Ami, want a drink?"

"Ah, no. I don't drink, sorry"

"Figures. You don't mind girls?" they shook their heads. Setting down the glass on the table I pour some sake into it. I take the chopsticks from my pocket, split it, and started slurping my ramen.

"Tastes good…" no words could ever describe such a luxurious taste.

"Hey, Leo can I have one?" Saori came up to me with her chopsticks.

"Sure… but they're really spicy though"

"Its fine, its fine. I won't get to be a good woman if I can't take that much"

"Okay…" offering her my bowl, she scoops a huge load of my ramen and slurps its down.

"*Slurrrrrrrp!* AH! HOT! HOT! HOT! WATER! WATER! WATER! WATER!"

"Hey! That's my-!" in her panic she takes my glass and gulps it down.

"*Gulp!**Gulp!*…MWAH! This tastes terrible!"

"That's because it's my sake"

"Eh? Eh? Eh? *hiccup?*" hiccup?

"Hiccup?" everyone seems to be in sync with me.

"Eh…Uuuh"

"Ah! Saori just died!" Yukari shouted as she catches her.

"No, you idiot. She just collapsed from the drink" well it is sake after all.

"Ewee~~h… Yu~~~ki~~na~~… Yu~~ki~~na~~~… *hiccup!*"

"Uwaa! Sari turned into a zombie!" Yukari shouted yet again.

"*Sigh*...Hey! What the hell are you four doing?" I only turned my back for a second when I see the rest are trying to have a go at my spicy ramen.

"W-well…" Miho wants to defend but her line of thought drifts into a black hole.

"Ah…" as well as Hana's.

"We want to have taste of your ramen" seems Mako is collected about this.

"Fine, fine. Don't blame me if it's too spicy" saying that they each take a go at my ramen. I watch as the scene unfolds.

"HAAA! HOT! HOT!" Miho holds her neck with one hand and fans her mouth with the other.

"WATER! WATER!" Hana tries to find some water

"H-HEY! *Cough!* Wh-What is this?!" Ami is coughing really hard. And;

"Hot…" Mako is still calm about this.

"See? Spicy isn't it?" I tried to warn them.

"Sen~~~sei… Ehehe… I see two sen~~sei~~…" our zombie friend wants to make a move on me.

"Uwaa! Saori is hitting on a guy!" Yukari… please stop. Please.

"Sen~~~sei… Why are there *hiccup* two of you~~~…" she came close to me and examines my face. Her face is all red.

"Now there are four~~ of you~~~… Ehehehe"

"Sen~~sei~~…" her hands reach for my cheeks. I duck under and dodge to the side. With her target disappearing all of a sudden she stumbles to the ground with her face planting.

"AH! Sao-!"

"Stop please…" I flick Yukari's forehead.

"Okay, woman get u~~p!" pulling the drunk mysterious zombie up, I put her on her seat crossed her arms on the table and use it as a pillow for her head.

"Done… Now getting back to my ramen…" true to that notion, I slurp up the rest of my bowl.

The scene I'm in is pretty picturesque for me. Well I have been in some cases seen this. But it's a first to see people who don't know my line of work enjoy this moment. As I look around, slurping down on me ramen, my eyes fall on the 4 war maniac girls.

"Hey…" leaning close to Miho, who was sitting at my opposite, I call onto her.

"… who are those wartime veterans?"

"war time veterans? Ah, those four…" it seems she gets my drift.

"Those are the Hippo team"

"Hippo? Hippopotamus? _Hippopotamus amphibius_? When did a hippo came here? I thought we were talking about _sensha-do_ not zoology"

"Ah… I don't know what you're talking about but... Ehem, the Hippo team operates a StuG. III"

"Sorry you lost me"

"Ah, I forgot that you have tank-agnosia"

"Please don't rub it on my face. I know that I'm the odd one out here"

"Ah, sorry but you can remember their characteristics right?"

"No. Maybe. Just tell me already please"

"Well… the tank that we finished off first can't turn its turret"

"Haa? And here I thought all tanks can turn its turret"

"The StuG isn't one of that. At the time, this was thought to be much simpler and cost-effective"

"I see… Production would be faster if you don't have to worry about the mechanics of the turret. And if it's fixed, then you have to turn the tank left and right just to position the turret right… I'm one step closer to getting over my tank-agnosia!" I pumped my fists.

"Ahaha… well those girls you see there are part of the _Reki-jo_"

"Haa?"

"There short for girls who like history" it seems Hana joined in on the conversation as well.

"What is it? What is it? Are we talking about how to beat our next practice match?" Yukari also joined us.

"No, no. Leo here is just asking about those _Reki-jo_'s" Miho restated our topic.

"Ah, those girls… They always seem to know a lot"

"Probably because you only think of tanks"

"Hey! That's just rude! I think of other stuff as well"

"Really? I'm thumbing you down as tank maniac but please indulge me: What are the other things that you think off other than tanks?"

"Ah… Um…" she looks away and tries to think her way out.

"See? Just admit it. We will still friends" even though I only befriended her just a couple of hours ago.

"Ah… I think about…"

"What?"

"I think about…"

"Say it"

"I think about Nishizumi-dono!"

"Eh!?" Miho blushed.

"Wow…" I facepalm.

"Ah… um… this is kinda… ah… how do I say this…? Ah…" Miho stutters from embarrassment.

"Don't tell me you're getting flustered?"

"No! I just…" she goes a bit red.

"You don't think of me?" Yukari asked with puppy dog eyes.

"Ah…"

"This is a train wreck…" I have to comment on this.

"Um… *gulp*… You're a valuable loader for the Anglerfish team!"

"Really?!"

"Yes, really"

"Really? Really?"

"Really, really"

"Really? Really? Really?"

"Really, really, really"

"Anyway Hana…" leaving the two in their show of bravado I lean in close to Hana, who was sitting beside Miho.

"Who are those four anyway?"

"Ah, the girl with a general's hat is Erwin. The one with messy hair and glasses is Oryou. The one with a red bandana is Saemonza. And the last one with a red scarf is Caesar" she answers my question straight on.

"Thanks… Anyway, like the ramen?"

"Mm! This is very delicious. I never knew there was a stall such as this"

"I just found it by chance. But order up if you want more, I got enough money in pocket"

"Ah, no. That would be over welcoming your treat to us"

"Really? Well if you want more just go ask the master, he's a friend"

"Alright"

Eating the rest of my ramen, I also drink every last drop of sake from the bottle. After we had cleaned up mess we made, I pay the master the appropriate amount, with tip, and we leave the alley.

"So girls… see ya"

"See you in class Leo" Miho waved me goodbye.

"Yeah… see you" Mako said her goodbye.

"See you. Leo"

"See you, Leo-Sensei"

"Take care, Leo"

I was a bit taken back that these five said there goodbye's for me. Fills me with warmth from the cold night of the open sea.


	8. Chapter 8: Lesson 2: FOMO

Chapter 8:

Lesson 2: F.O.M.O.

"Why'd ya call me?"

"_News_"

"Indulge me"

"_A squad is being sent from USS Orion, call sign Blackwater, to Shang-Hai. We've also sent one of our own with them_"

"Who is it?"

"_87_"

"Haa? That asshole couldn't even hold shit"

"_We know. But he's getting good 'grades' at his own pace so we decided to give him a break_"

"He's going to experience hell"

"_I know right. Anyway, you better hustle up there_"

"I am. But I decided not to make my move until things are about to move downhill"

"_Why? You're not there to sightsee_"

"No. She's living a good life here; I don't want to butt in"

"_You already are the moment you became her teacher_"

"Yeah, yeah. But let's get back on Blackwater. What's their objective?"

"_Intel about that influential man_"

"Wait. We don't even have a bead on this man? No records?"

"_He's ID is blacked out. I don't know why though_"

"Part of us?"

"_No, apparently_"

"There's got to be something on him. Like a stage name of sort"

"_The Chinese call him 'The Preacher''_"

"Sounds like something from a bible. So this Preacher… how is influential is he?"

"_Even their president believes in him_"

"Well that's shit… hope these bastards are good at their job"

"_You and I both. You and I both_"

"See ya"

"_See ya_"

*BEEP!*

* * *

"Okay, class settle down… Dear gawd, my head…"

"Are you alright, sensei?"

"No. And in any case where's Saori?" I noticed that her seat is empty.

"Saori-chan is taking the day off. She said her head is spinning" Hana answered.

"Seesh… I warned her about my ramen to be too spicy and my drink too" well it is natural since my ramen was too spicy for her.

"Anyway sensei, what are we going to talk about today?" a pupil asked.

"Hmm… we did discuss about names last meeting so I don't know…" I think my options.

"Ah sensei!"

"Yeah?" I look at a pupil who just shot her hand up.

"My friend wanted to ask where you from"

"H-hey…"

"Don't worry it's going to be fine" I can hear them whispering.

"I came from California although born in Spain. After I graduated college, I came here. Also, if you may have noticed, I'm Japanese in blood so I look like one"

"Can you sample us a bit of Spanish?"

"Mi nombre es Leofwine Esmond. Edad veinte. Una enseñanza del profesor en formación que la filosofía"

"Uwoooo…"

"But sensei talks Japanese fluently" Yukari commented.

"Yeah, I do. My parent taught me some"

"Sensei! Can I ask when is your birthday?"

"January 23… Ah, I think I have a topic now" it's a good thing she said about birthday thing.

"Okay… settle down now I'm serious on this. And Mako, please wake up"

"Reizei-san, Reizei-san…" Miho wakes Mako up.

"Uuh… so sleepy… why does the sun always appear?"

"Because if the sun isn't there we'd freeze to death and wander around in space for all of infinity. And please Mako, try not to sleep or I'm going to fall asleep myself" saying that I look back at the class.

"Okay, did you know that in the year 6009 will be the first year after 1961, when written in Hindu- Arabic numerals and invert it still looks the same"

"…But we all know that we won't live long enough to enjoy the year 6009. Human lives are too short, and so we will miss out on that. So… what are other cool events are we going to miss?"

"Sensei, the time pyramid is one" a pupil spoke out.

"Right you are. We will all be gone before the _Zeitpyramide _or Time Pyramid finishes building, in Wemding, Germany"

"It's going to be a pile of 120 blocks. But, the builders add a block every 10 years. So when is it going to be completed?" asking that everyone started to count at the top of their heads.

"Since its start in 1993, so far only 2 have been installed and next year will be the third. And it will finish on the year of 3183, that going to take a long time"

"Our great, great, great, great, great, great, I don't know how many greats there are, grandchildren will probably see it finished. But even they will miss out to venture into the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone. The zone of alienation"

"The radioactive contamination from the 1986 disaster will remain too high… until the year 22,000. That's a long time. There's also another one that I'm bummed about, stars like Betelgeuse and Eta Carinae will explode in an awesome supernova"

"What would happen then Sensei?"

"Their supernovas will be so bright and visible from earth that for a few weeks, it will look like earth has 2 suns. Awesome, huh? But note, they're thousands of light years away" everyone has rainbows in their eyes; probably imagining what it would look like.

"But there is another night show that you'll all like, 3.75 billion years from now. Okay, digressing for a bit, our galaxy is full of stars. Viewed from the surface of the earth they look like little drops of milk. Hence we call it the Milky Way galaxy. But all galaxies are named after milk, lactose, lactic, ga-lactic, galaxies. And every star you see is inside our galaxy, you are seeing stars of the Milky Way"

"But if you look closely, there is a smudge on it. Blurry shaped. It's not a star nor is it a cloud of gas. It is another galaxy, Andromeda. And it is 2.5 million light years away. Have twice as the number of stars as we have and it is coming our way at 300 km/s"

"After 2 billion years, you will see Andromeda in full view when you look up in the sky. After 3.75 billion years, the night sky will look like a scene from a sci-fi movie. And after 4 billion years, you will see that it will glow awesomely as the galaxies combined and give birth to new stars"

"And after 7 billion years, because of the power called gravity, the two galaxies will be married together forming a new galaxy called… Milkdromeda"

"But don't get so FOMO or be consumed from 'fear of missing out'; because whatever life is around then we have a lot to envy us for. Sure, they may have awesome night show but they may secretly wish to be born in our time. To experience the beginning of the internet, for example"

"Actually, now that I think about it, they will miss out on a lot of things. The moon moves away from us a centimeter every year. 600 million years from now, it won't be able to cover the sun completely thus missing out on the blindingly beautiful total solar eclipse"

"Long before the sea of the earth dries up, the Niagara Falls will dry up. Not the water part but the 'falls' part. Every year, the rushing water erodes the rock at that top of the falls, one foot backward. By the year 52,000 it would have eroded to Lake Erie and Niagara Falls will be no more"

"So life on earth, in the future, will have supernovas or galactic collisions to look forward to. But they probably won't have Niagara Falls or even the total solar eclipse. But they also won't have you. But you have you, except not all of it. Babies don't have episodic memories right away, thus you will miss out two important memories of your life. Your conception and your birth"

"Light travels quickly, the most quickest in fact. But it can take a photon millions of years to escape from the interior of the star it created in through nuclear fusion. It takes time just like your own gestation in your mother's womb. Newly conceived photons will struggle through a dense, stellar jungle of atoms, molecules and electrons that absorb and reemit the photon, taking a little energy from it as it randomly rolls around like a pinball"

"After millions of years, its random journey finally leads into the stars surface where it… pops out into space. In a way, is born. And a lucky tiny, tiny, super tiny, percent of these photons find themselves intersect with earth. And if you are lucky, those photons will end their journey by being absorbed into your own retina"

"By knowing the date of your birth. You will find a star that is as many light years away from earth as you are old. And when you look up at that star today, you are seeing light the very month that you were born. Or a photon that left that star and entered space, when your entire body was just one cell"

"Space is really big and your life is short. But space is so oh-my-goodness big that you don't have to miss out… on everything. Class dismissed"


	9. Chapter 9: Volleyball Team: Plushie

Chapter 9:

Volleyball Team: Plushie

Saturday rolls in after my class yesterday. And I'm here in my container home lazing around. The notion of doing my 'job' bores me and my cafeteria work is only on Mondays. I have nothing to do.

Sophia already briefed me on Blackwater. She said that USS Orion was stationed onto the territorial sea of the Phil's. They only sent a squad of 4 men, including one of our own, to Shantou. Under the cover of night, they speed boated they're way to Shantou Harbor. From there a fixer had given them a ride to Shang-Hai. And as of right now, they probably left Zhangzhou.

Going south; China has sent NAVY forces on the coasts of Spratly Islands. Of course, the Phil's, with the US' backup, also sent some of its own. From there a small scale stare down is at hand. Just how badly these Chinese want those islands? I have a friend who's Chinese and he… never mind. Mind you, I'm not generalizing nor am I being a racist to the Chinese. But this particular Chinese man is an opportunist piece of shit.

And that's the current situation in the outside world.

So okay enough with serious talk. What am I going to do? If I lay here on the bed I'll doze off eventually. Running perhaps? Nah, done that already. How about eating breakfast? Done that too. How about reading a book? Mako is holding my one and only book.

"Maybe a stroll…" getting up, I leave with that in my mind.

Today is a Saturday. Most high schools in japan have classes on this day. As such, Ooarai Girls High School is one of them. Looking at the schedule, it seems that the headmaster likes Saturday's. Why? Because the students' class is only up to lunch break. After that is class dismissed.

The brilliant blue sky brightens up my day, so does the sun brightening up Ooarai town. The cars on the street moves to their destinations as the peak hours get closer and closer. The local shops are already open and are just waiting for customers. I can taste the salty air in its brilliance as the sea wind blew over me.

While I was walking along, enjoying this peaceful scenario, I subconsciously put my path towards the school. Realizing this, I shrug my shoulders and headed to the _sensha-do_ grounds.

Upon arriving, I see four girls playing volleyball. Looking closely at they're profiles, it seems that they're a part of the _sensha-do _team. Looking at the time, it seems that they're skipping class. Well its thirty minutes before the end, so why bother going anyway? Mind you, I'm not supporting class skipping whatsoever.

"You sure you girls don't want to go to class?" walking up to them I spoke up. They stop their volleyball play.

"Oh? It's the guest" a girl with brown pink-ish hair spoke to me.

"Hello, I'm a teacher-in-training and you girls are busted…That's a joke, don't mind it"

"And are you sure you should be here, Sensei?" a dark brown haired girl spoke up.

"I'm a teacher-in-training. I can do whatever I want"

"Isn't that abuse of power?" A ponytail blonde spoke up.

"Whatever are you talking about? This has nothing to do with power. This is, me, exercising my rig-!"

"Would you mind stepping aside, Sensei. You are disturbing our training" a short single-ponytail, brown haired girl snaps.

"Sorry, sorry. We might have had a bad start. Anyway, you can continue your training in… wait, aren't you girls from the _sensha-do_ team? Why volleyball?"

"It's a sport we love first before tankery" the dark brown haired girl answers.

"I see… then why didn't you join the volleyball club instead?" as I spoke they at each other with disappointing eyes. Oops…

"Sorry… I might have hit something there" I say my apology while slightly bending my head forwards.

"Ah, no. It's fine. It's was a little disappointing though… that we didn't get to revive the volleyball club"

"Revive? So it was disbanded?"

"2 years ago" the blonde added.

"I see… And you joined _sensha-do_ because you want to revive it?"

"Mm… But they were willing to revive if we got enough members but…"

"But…?"

"…No one came" the brown pink-ish girl added to that.

"I… see…" having such a chance slip away from your finger tips, I know how they feel.

"…Hey" then a snappy tone snaps me back.

"Hm?"

"…We're practicing now" it wasn't me that the brown pony tailed girl is talking to, it was the other three.

"…Okay!" removing the shadows on their faces, they returned to their positions and resumed playing.

"…" seeing the smile on their faces it seems that I shouldn't ruin it by sticking my nose in. With that in thought, I silently walk away.

"Well… I got nothing to do now…" getting bored instantly I walk by the sidewalk. Passing by the houses of the Ooarai carrier, I felt that this is what we call peace.

Normally, when I'm on the job, I just kill off that peaceful atmosphere with a squeeze from my finger or in any other form, for that matter. Coming out of hell hole feels nice for once. The sea salty air, the breeze of the wind as the carrier rides among the waves, all of these things pulls me back from the endless nightmares I faced before.

"Heh… stop being so sentimental Leo" I say that to myself. I really hate that part of me sometimes. But it's not all that bad. My Captain once told me that:

"_Small breaks or long breaks. Enjoy those things to the last minute_" from those words, I've come to appreciate the very small breaks I have in between jobs. The Cap changed my feeble aspect in life. Well, he did help the squad back in the day. And we are all grateful to him...

"Speaking of squads…" I see a squad of familiar school girls walking towards me from the opposite direction.

"Oh, it Leo!" a ginger haired girl called out.

"Damn… I thought it was some idol group but instead I'm met with Saori"

"Hey… that's not very nice y'know!"

"Oh please… I'm merely stating my dissatisfaction" I chuckled.

"Oh it's Leo, good afternoon" Hana bowed.

"C'mon… can't you just act like I'm a classmate? I feel really old despite my young age of you do that"

"Ahaha…well you do look a bit mature for your age"

"I don't want to hear that from you" with a light smile I walk with them.

"So anyway, you girls are already off?"

"Yes, since today is half-day" Miho answered.

"So… _sensha-do_?"

"Mhm!" Miho nodded.

"Oh yeah… I was at the grounds earlier and I saw 4 girls playing volleyball"

"Ah, you mean the Duck team?"

"Why is there a duck in volleyball?" and why animal names?

"Ah, sorry. I forgot you don't know much" that hurts!

"I'll introduce you to them when we get there" well, ain't that convenient.

"Hey… why are you so concerned about our _sensha-do_ team when you can't even tell the difference between a Panzer IV and a Type 89?" Yukari is weirdly close to me.

"Won't you give me a break Yukari? It's not like I'm killing you or anything?"

"But it…NNNN! Annoys me so much!"

"Mako, help me here… she's going to explode"

"Reizei-san" Mako approaches Yukari.

"Yeah?"

"Here" Mako then offered Miho.

"Eh…" she seemed dumbfounded.

"Hug this real-life plushie of your Nishizumi-dono"

"EH!?" the 'plushie' reacted. Well, ain't that something. Wait... ain't this wrong in all the wrong places? Thinking that, I conceal my presence and got close to Hana.

"Hey… why is Mako offering Miho?" I whisper.

"It seems Yukari-chan idolizes Miho a lot"

"I see, I see… and? She's using Miho as a bribe"

"It seems so" we both watch the performance unfold.

"C'mon, c'mon. Hug this life-sized plushie of your idol"

"Mako-chan! Don't push me"

"Ugh… I can't… The temptation…!"

"Woah… she's getting tempted?" if this turns into something else, I'm going to run away.

"Ugh… Ah! Nishizumi-dono!" failing the temptation, Yukari succumb to her desires and squeezed Miho with all her might.

"Eh! Ah! Yukari!" Yukari, who were in bliss, berserk mode rubbed her cheeks against the 'plushie' before her.

"AH! Nishizumi-dono's skin is so soft~~!"

"Ah! Hey! Yukari—Ah!"

"Oh damn…" this is a train wreck.

"Okay. Now it's done" the satisfied Mako gave a gleeful smile and raised a thumb.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN DONE!?" with Saori reacted strongly. With a bit of a silent laugh coming from me, we head towards the grounds. It really is peaceful.


End file.
